Various types of wearing apparel have traditionally required some type of retaining mechanism to secure the wearing apparel about the body of a wearer. This mechanism may be a built-in part of the apparel such as permanently attached buttons, zippers, clasps, or other attached securing mechanisms. Non-permanently attached securing mechanisms of various types and designs have also been employed to secure wearing apparel about the body of the wearer. Examples of non-permanently attached securing mechanisms are straps, suspenders, elastic straps, rope cut to size, braided or woven material cut to size, or waistbelts.
The waistbelts worn on various parts of a person's body to retain wearing apparel have long been in existence. The waistbelt may be worn about a person's midsection or over the person's shoulder. Waistbelts may be of various types, designs, or configurations. They may be made of a variety of materials but are generally of a continuous length, i.e., a waistbelt has a longitudinal length with a minimum of two oppositely spaced ends, requiring some type of mechanism to secure these two ends together. The mechanism employed to secure the two ends of the waistbelt together may be a pin and buckle, snap, clasp, button, or any other variety of devices. The most commonly employed waistbelt securing device is the standard pin and buckle.
During the securing of the waistbelt generally one end of the waistbelt is overlaid or juxtaposition the other end of the waistbelt. These two ends may be secured in any desired manner such as the aforementioned pin and buckle. If the pin and buckle are selected to secure the two ends of the waistbelt, the buckle itself must be secured to one end of the waistbelt. The pin portion of the buckle typically pierces the other end of the waistbelt and provides the means for securing the two ends of the waistbelt together. The pin in concert with the buckle, when tension is applied provides the waistbelt with the necessary mechanism for securing the two ends together.
The number of apertures punched into the body of the pin and buckle waistbelt through which the buckle pin must protrude determines the exact number of locations to which the waistbelt may be fitted to the wearer i.e., a five-aperture waist belt has exactly five locations to which the pin and buckle waistbelt can be adjusted to fit around the waist of the wearer. This means the spaces between each aperture represent lengths to which the waistbelt cannot be adjusted to fit around the waist of the wearer. This limitation to the number of adjustment locations greatly reduces the wearer's ability to obtain a "most desirable" or "most comfortable" fit.
Securing the opposite ends of the waistbelt in this manner over time generally leaves depressions in the waistbelt itself caused by constant pressure of the buckle on one end of the waistbelt. The buckle pin does not cause damage to the waistbelt, as it only protrudes through an aperture and locks the buckle in place. The damage done to the waistbelt by the buckle is inherent to the use of a pin and buckle mechanism. The constant pressure applied to the body of the waistbelt by the buckle causes a depression, or worn spot, in the length of the waistbelt. This depression is commonly referred to as a "buckle scar". With continued wear, the problem of buckle scaring causes the waistbelt to become increasingly weaker and with time, the waistbelt eventually becomes worn out, or non-functional.
Attempts in the past have been made to correct the above discussed limitations and the buckle scaring problem. One such attempt is illustrated generally at 810, FIGS. 8a to 8d of the drawings. The waistbelt 810 does not use a typical pin and buckle arrangement to secure the opposite ends of the waistbelt. This waistbelt employs a single protuberance or buckling loop 820 extending outwardly from the proximal end 830 of the waistbelt. This buckling loop 820 traverses buckling slots 840 inserted into the tongue or distal end 850 of the waistbelt. A second retaining mechanism or thong 860 is inserted into the buckling loop 820 to prevent it's retracting from the buckling slots 840 thereby securing the waist belt 810. A third retaining mechanism 870 is positioned on the distal end 850 of waistbelt 810. The third retaining mechanism or slip-loop 870 may traverse the length of waistbelt 810. The only function of the slip-loop 870 is to prevent the distal end 850 and the thong 860 from dropping downward after the securing of the waistbelt 810 is complete.
The slip-loop 870 is an independent, unattached, and unsecured component, and is a functional component of the waistbelt 810. Though fundamental to the waistbelt 810's operation, there are certain malfunctional characteristics of the slip-loop 870 that are inherent in its design and in relation to its functional compatibility with other required components of the waistbelt 810. The slip-loop 870 is not a component of the buckling mechanism of the waistbelt 810, nor does it function to secure the waistbelt around the waist of the wearer. The only intended function of the slip-loop 870 is to prevent the distal end 850 and the thong 860 from dropping downward after they exit the permanently attached buckling loop 820.
In operation, the slip-loop 870 provides only a limited degree of functionality to its intended purpose. With the slip-loop 870 being an unattached and unsecured part of the waistbelt 810, it does not stay secured in any one desired position because the weight of the distal end 850 and thong 860 presses downward on the slip-loop 870, forcing the slip-loop 870 inward until the slip-loop 870 comes to rest against the buckling loop 820. As a result, the closer the slip-loop 870 shifts toward the buckling loop 820, the further the ends of the distal end 850 and thong 860 drop downward. This progressive inward shifting of the slip-loop 870 eventually renders the slip-loop 870 unable to perform the function for which it was intended.
It would be desirable to have a multi-functional waistbelt that had two opposing ends and a securing mechanism distributed on both ends of the waistbelt. Once the two ends were secured together, neither end of the waistbelt would droop.